At least 50 Palestinians were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes in Gaza on Tuesday night, the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency and hospitals say.
Israel carried out the strikes in response to what it said were violations by Hamas of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.
Israel’s defence minister accused Hamas of an attack in southern Gaza that killed an Israeli soldier on Tuesday, and of breaching the terms on returning deceased hostages’ bodies. Hamas claimed it had “no connection” to the attack and insisted it was committed to the ceasefire deal.
US President, Donald Trump maintained “nothing” would jeopardise the ceasefire, but added that Israel should “hit back” when its soldiers were targeted.
The Israeli strikes hit homes, schools and residential blocks in Gaza City and Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza, Bureij and Nuseirat in the centre, and Khan Younis in the south.
A Civil Defence spokesman told AFP news agency that at least 50 people were killed, including 22 children, and around 200 others were injured.
In Gaza City, witnesses described seeing “pillars of fire and smoke” rising into the air as explosions shook several residential areas.
Three women and a man who were pulled from the rubble of the al-Banna family’s home in the southern Sabra neighbourhood, the Civil Defence said.
In the urban Bureij refugee camp, five members of the Abu Sharar family were killed in a strike on their home in the Block 7 area, it added.
And in Khan Younis, another five people were killed when aircraft targeted a vehicle on a road north-west of the city, according to the agency.
The Civil Defence said its rescue teams were “working amid extremely difficult conditions” and that it feared the death toll would rise because some missing people were believed to trapped under rubble.
A brief statement put out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday evening said he had ordered the military to carry out “forceful strikes” in Gaza but did not specify his reasons.
However, his defence minister said Hamas had crossed “a bright red line” by launching an attack on Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Tuesday.
“Hamas will pay many times over for attacking the soldiers and for violating the agreement to return the fallen hostages,” Israel Katz warned.
On Wednesday morning, the Israeli military announced a reservist soldier, Master Sergeant Yona Efraim Feldbaum, was killed.
A military source said the attack took place in the southern city of Rafah “east of the Yellow Line”, which demarcates Israeli-controlled territory inside Gaza under the ceasefire deal.
Sgt Feldbaum was killed when one of the vehicles of a military engineering team that was dismantling an underground tunnel route in the southern city of Rafah was hit by fire from “terrorists in the area”, according to the source.
“A few minutes later, several anti-tank missiles were fired at another armoured vehicle belonging to the troops in the area. No injuries were reported,” they added.
BBC / Titilayo Kupoliyi
Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels, and also join our WhatsApp Update Group.
